-Truce between Hamas and Israel to start at 18:00
-Mixed economic data

Dow Jones Industrials: 0.33%
Nasdaq Composite: 0.20%
S&P 500: 0.13%

The main US equity benchmarks have moved into positive territory ahead of the long Thanksgiving weekend. That despite the mixed economic data out this afternoon and following news that Hamas and Israel have reached a truce.

Of interest, Marketwatch.com's Mark Hulbert today cites data from the Vickers Weekly Insider Report, published by Argus Research, pointing to a possible rise in the market, as can be deduced from levels of insider buying.

Thus, he explains that the ratio of all shares that insiders have recently sold in the open market, when compared to the number that they have purchased, stood at 1.58 to 1 for the week that ended last Friday. That is less than half the average level over the last decade, which was of 3.4 to 1.

At the bull market high earlier this fall, in contrast, the insiders' sell-to-buy ratio got as high as 6.86 to 1.

Back on the company front, the latest quarterly results out from agricultural equipment maker Deere missed analysts' estimates after foreign sales declined.

While the bottom line improved to $1.75 a share in the latest three months, from $1.62 a year ago, that was worse than the 18 estimates compiled by Bloomberg for $1.88.

Analysts at RBC have lowered their view on shares of Hewlett Packard to sector perform.

Salesforce.com is pacing advancers in the tech arena after beating on both profits and sales last night.

The best performing sectors at the moment are: Iron&Steel (1.27%), Software (1.05%) and Platinum (1.04%).

Weaker than expected employment data

Initial US weekly unemployment claims fell by 41,000 to 410,000, as expected, but the previous week's tally was revised up to 451,000 from the preliminary reading of 439,000. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics hurricane Sandy is still impacting the data.

The Markit manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index for the month of November rose to 52.4 points after a reading of 51 for October (Consensus: 51), with both the new orders and employment gauges moving higher.

The University of Michigan's final reading on consumer sentiment for the month of November has come in at 82.7 (Consensus: 84.5).

The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose by 0.2% month-on-month in October (Consensus: 0.1%).

Small rise in energy quotes


Front month west Teas crude futures are now registering a rise of 0.50%, to $87.12/barrel on the NYMEX.

10 year US Treasury yields are now rising by 2 basis point, to 1.68%.

S&P 500 - Risers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $156.93 +7.56%
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $5.47 +4.49%
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) $9.40 +3.87%
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) $31.29 +2.66%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $12.01 +2.54%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $89.69 +2.53%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $21.60 +2.47%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $11.77 +2.39%
QEP Resources Inc (QEP) $28.38 +2.38%
Washington Post Co. (WPO) $352.00 +2.33%

S&P 500 - Fallers
St Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) $31.20 -12.63%
Deere & Co. (DE) $82.47 -4.09%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $47.47 -4.08%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $11.50 -3.85%
DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (DVA) $110.42 -2.70%
SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) $26.84 -2.04%
Iron Mountain Inc. (IRM) $32.50 -1.81%
Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) $35.69 -1.63%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $51.55 -1.53%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $16.52 -1.36%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $12.01 +2.54%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $77.71 +1.33%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $27.01 +1.12%
Boeing Co. (BA) $73.26 +1.00%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $9.72 +0.93%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $18.49 +0.82%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $190.50 +0.69%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $48.76 +0.67%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $43.79 +0.53%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.94 +0.50%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $25.36 -0.70%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.40 -0.58%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $42.60 -0.47%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.90 -0.14%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $40.68 -0.05%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $9.99 +2.94%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $89.69 +2.53%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $11.77 +2.39%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $61.56 +2.33%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $39.59 +1.93%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $41.17 +1.75%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $26.45 +1.60%
Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) $20.42 +1.59%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $45.46 +1.26%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $18.23 +1.17%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $47.47 -4.08%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $91.27 -2.96%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $41.14 -2.42%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $5.49 -1.17%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $92.51 -0.98%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $75.10 -0.94%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $25.36 -0.70%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $51.61 -0.67%
Google Inc. (GOOG) $665.72 -0.63%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.40 -0.58%

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